Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Even though it was many years ago, I still remember when I saw my first Mew Gull. As a kid who had been fed a diet of Ring-billed and California Gulls, I was thrilled to add a new gull to my elementary birders’ list. This bird had more white in the black tips of the wings than either of those two species, but what confirmed its identity was its gentle, even dove-live appearance. I wasn’t consciously aware that this was because it had a distinctively smaller bill, it just had a different “jizz”. This term is likely unfamiliar to many but is widely used within the birding community. One writer defined jizz as “the indefinable quality of a particular species or the ‘vibe’ it gives off”. Others add an additional piece of information by stating it is a British slang term for “the total combination of characteristics that serve to identify a particular species of bird or plant”. That seems to match perfectly since possibly as high as 80-90% of this species live in Europe where it is known as the Common Gull. And now here, it’s renamed Short-billed Gull.
I like to read 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 using this same understanding. J.B. Phillips New Testament renders the verse this way: “Thanks be to God who leads us, wherever we are, on his own triumphant way and makes our knowledge of him spread throughout the world like a lovely perfume! We Christians have the unmistakeable “scent” of Christ, discernible alike to those who are being saved and to those who are heading for death.” The idea appeals to me that we should live in such a way that those we come in contact with will know there is something different about us. They may not even be able to put their finger on what it is about us that is different, but they know there is a difference. And it is that difference that will provide us with the opportunity to point them to Christ.
Use whatever term you like: aroma, scent, or jizz. If we are truly Christ-like, there will be a noticeable difference in our lives that will provide us with an opportunity to share Him.